Ok so some of that time was stopped looking around at photo spots but the majority was in the car - (Stegastein was SO BUSY). I really could have stopped more often but huge chunks of the drive didnt really have areas to pull over, so I just admired the view from Olaf.
Ok first things first! The drive to Aurland was nice and calm - lots of little pit stops here and there for photos along the lakes, rivers, rapids, etc. The sun was relatively out, so the water was often a nice blue or green.
Just before Hol I stopped at a cute little red church - the clouds were spectacular up above. Next was a waterfall (ish) just past Hovet and wandered around there a bit - there was a sign that Im not sure was keep out or keep out no hunting so I didnt bother lol. I still got some nice shots from the path I was on. I just love listening to
Another interesting discovery - so many sheep lol. They wander out on to the road so you have to weave sometimes. And at the photo pit stop areas they randomly up to my car to lick the tires??? Why???
Anywho. I made it to Aurland - since the station wasnt busy I tried to figure out how to put gas in the car (its so expensive lol $3.10 ish - good thing my little Polo seems to be good on gas). Originally I was going to do Stegastein tomorrow but its supposed to rain and I really wanted to make sure I saw it at least once in the sunlight so I headed up.
Heres the thing. A lot of Norwegian roads are pretty narrow - most of my driving today was on roads that were just wide enough for 2 cars but like you both have to relatively hug your edge. Thats fine. But a lot of the super steep winding roads are traffic, but only wide enough for 1 car so you have all these
little areas to pull over - youre constantly just watching ahead - if you see someone and youre need a spot, you pull over and wait. Again, simple enough but not so much at Stegastein with the sheer amount of traffic both ways - it was hella chaotic lol.
I have figured out the best trick is to be near a bus or a proper truck - people have to move to give them way and you reap the benefit. Campers so one of two ways got to make sure its a Norwegian driver or someone who knows their stuff otherwise they get stuck lol. The line to get up was insane today. The parking was also insanity - it isnt big at all. So I kept going, drove further into the mountain road, did a at another photo spot and came back about 20min later, thankfully the parking had a few spots.
The view is pretty fab and worth the stress - Im glad I came today. They built this huge platform that juts out over the fjord, so you can have the perfect view. I got my shots just in time before a tour bus
showed up - oh la la more chaos. I feel tourists are worse than they used to be maybe thats just me forgetting how things were before Covid.
Anyway. I started the long drive back down the first half was ok, then some random guy stopped me at one of the big curves and was like k 2 big busses up, can you wait here a few min. I mean, what am I going to say lol of course Ill wait. So I have this line up of like 20 cars behind me, as we wait. This one bus goes and theres a line of ~10 cars behind him then Im waiting and waiting. Nothing so Im like k cool, I guess I can go? (Also dont honk on Stegastein honestly. If cars are stopped its for a reason)
So I got down to the next big bend and realized lol NOPE those two big busses were theyd got stuck beside another other bus just past this next curve. So again I pulled over and just watched everyone try to do their thing - people were getting out of cars and campers
to direct the drivers how close they can go to the ditch or the stone wall. I was glad Id timed it that I was actually in a dip area so I was off to the side. What a time consuming mess.
Next stop was Flam - wow its built up tourist wise since I was last here but I mean that was 10+ years. There were two cruises in port (ew) so I just grabbed lunch to go and headed off.
